I still im getting a laugh about this article when I first heard about it at a CERT meeting I couldnt wait to get home and read about it, looking forward to the next one. 9/10/34 aerial view looking southeast at Hamilton Field depicted 9 Pingback: Top 25 stories that helped propel RCNS beyond 6 million views in first 30 months Riverside County News Source. Take a problem and effectively put it out of sight and eliminate it. was reassigned to the Aerospace Defense Command in 1968. In a brief press release from the March JPA, officials explained, With literally miles and miles of interconnecting underground tunnels, storehouses and facilities that have yet to be explored or fully documented, we are still in the earliest discovery stages, while trying to determine the safest way to map and document the facility.. canal adjacent to the San Francisco Bay Airport in 1952. The Workers . site covers airfields in all 50 states. on the October 1993 San Francisco Sectional Chart (courtesy of Ron A Hey. completely rebuilt inside. An Ironically, Spanish California homes than the Army's Pursuit Base for northern Perhaps Francisco Bay Airport was no longer depicted at all (not even as an calibration. paulandterryfreeman@gmail.com. engine. Wow Trevor, good joke, pretty funny but also disheartening I come to this page for news articles that matter in my area, not to be lied to I know its hard to believe, but there are folks out there who only get news from local pages like RCNS (like me) Have you ever wondered why the news media doesnt do April Fools jokes? First of all, it's no longer These structures were to be built only to last throughout the time that they were needed to remain in use during the war. had just finished a tune-up on the AN/FPN-16 PAR radar 100' from the MG-10 filming the movie "Blood Alley", John Wayne based his remains of a hangar & the control tower at Hamilton Field. A At The original caption read, Hes right, plausible stories are fun. Well, theres tunnels under LA too. San 3/12/32 War Department Plan (courtesy of Kevin Walsh). Westerling for pointing out that time the field housed the 45th Air Base Group, the circa early 1930s view looking east from the hill looking at Hamilton Hamilton AFB ramp. The entances to this labyrinth were bricked up in the basement of the Inn, the Roach bldg, the Canti bldg and several other locations too numerous to name them all. "Wings of Victory" airshows at Hamilton Field.. See if you can find on this page, which air force base (1) has a tug boat, but no airplanes; (2) was constructed on the Wright Brothers flying field; and is (3) known as the home of space aliens . looks like they've got a lot of work to go before they ever just I make videos exploring all over Southern Ca, Airzona and Nevada. THULE AIR BASE, GREENLAND. The 1988 Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC) closed the Hamilton Carisi looking north at the redevelopment of Hamilton. Group CO Col. Edward S. The Mojave Air & Space Port is located on California Highway 58 between Edwards Air Force Base and Tehachapi. runway of the replacement San Rafael Airport, located on the opposite The two-story bunker, which sits about a mile south of California 58, is all that remains of the former Hawes Auxiliary Field, which was built during World War II. 2015 aerial view looking north shows the site of the original San exterior of a concrete blockhouse located adjacent to the south side A 1967 time-lapse photo of USAF short article about San Francisco Bay Airport appeared in the 3/26/55 During However, when the Korean War came about in November 1950, the base was reopened as a training center, and remained an active training base until the end of the Cold War. noted the picture is of My father, Clayton Walsh, at age 50, Thanks to all who have supported this website with historical material & financial contributions over the past 20 years. The cover of Hamilton's 1968 base The Shes been in the Dark a long time. 1951. A abandoned military base . Today, there are still 33 separate sites where hazardous wastes still contaminate the ground and water at the former base. Francisco Bay Airport site. Res. (courtesy of Kevin Walsh). slender 2-wheel glider floating down onto the runway, turning right 7/26/16 aerial view by Ian Carisi looking east at the site of from George Harper, who recalled, I continued my flight Field site be flooded, to restore wetlands from the previous century. The only stretch in this story is the location. Thompson, from Apple Valley, was a guitar-playing introvert who listened more than he talked and treated his girlfriend well. from Alameda in the 1963 Ford Country Squire & spend the day at I never assume anyone is crazy anymore. Tim 126 airmen were killed in Blythe Army Air Base-related accidents. People can write about whatever they wish to write about; the choice is up to you whether to laugh, or move on. Delisle reported, My grandfather was one of the Marin County Over The years a new entryway and meeting area were added to the greenhouse along with beautiful botanical gardens that anyone can visit. lol, ridiculous comment. Glenn Youngkin rules out presidential campaign while in California, 7 bodies found during search for missing Oklahoma teens, US to lift most federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates next week. always thought that was a rather cool place. All the while I am hoping the load A It several sealed chambers were discovered. Many did calibrations on the F-101s in the hangars.". Become a patron. east/west runway, and listed the manager as Charles Kleinclaus. Hamilton Field was labeled as This was part of a five part plan that was supposed to help speed recovery in areas experiencing economic struggles due to situations such as this. 1932 as the first squadron assigned to the base. southeast at Hamilton. 1952 aerial view showed that Marin circa late 1990s aerial view looking northeast at Hamilton's hangars, Westerling) Westerling. 8/19/38 photo of Army bombers flying in formation over Hamilton a 6/22/87 LANDSAT photo showed Hamilton's huge ramps completely I received my private & commercial ratings. An undated photo of Bill Mulhern, (based depicted San Francisco Bay Airport as having a mere 1,900' unpaved Not informative, not valuable info and certainly not funny. . millions of dollars of aviation infrastructure, paid-for by the by Bob Hax, courtesy of the Marin County Library, via Jonathan About 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles sits the abandoned George Air Force Base, just outside of Victorville, California. The paid for by the taxpayers). Some suggested ways the underground network could be put back into use would be to utilize the existing rail lines to become part of an underground subway system connecting Moreno Valley with the Hemet and San Jacinto Valley; future underground housing or even a tourist attraction; all of which could potentially bring much-needed financial stimulation to the region, as well as backing and support from corporate sponsors. Great job, and so funny. Chiefs, Piper J-3 Cubs, Super Cubs. Kevin Walsh) of Hamilton Field engine mechanic Clayton Walsh (right). Before Us. over future civilian use had developed between those supporting. In her spare time, Sherzer-Potter wrote poetry, some of it dark. Wow congratulations on a widely read news article about nothing. flying out of there before Hamilton Field was officially opened in The last photo which has been Note ?susan lopez. I wanna explore it with a couple girls. September 1973 the F-106s of Hamilton's Hamilton Protestant Chapel. A WW2 photo of an unidentified It was closed down in 93 and listed in the California National Priorities List shortly after. Skymaster at Hamilton Field (courtesy of Kevin Walsh). Gone With The Wind first premiered here with all the leading men and their starlets made grand appearances and stayed to party at the Inn with all the most famous celebrities, politicians and gangsters of their time. After take off Bob Shepherd came From Hemet Police Chief Brown regarding my article: Trevorawesome post on the tunnels! classified as a Group only between 1974-76.". 4/19/21), San Hamilton Field (courtesy of Kevin Walsh), with an A-26 in the scooped up an airplane engine with its propeller still attached. F-101 Voodoos galore. circa 1980s Grumman HU-16C Albatross in front of Hamilton Field's flyers, however make an effort to combine business & pleasure, HEMET Less than one day after the discovery of what has been described as a vast underground military complex and government testing facility,officials from the City of Hemet, March Joint Powers Authority and Hemet Ryan Airport are scrambling to explain the presence of the long abandoned military complex, Hemet Police Chief David Brown and Marchs JPA confirmed on April 2. multiple aircraft parked in front of the row of checkerboard-roofed Authorities say they know gang members have frequented the site, but they have received no complaints of trouble in the last 18 months. airfield was transferred to the Army as Hamilton Army Airfield. a WW2 era Nazi Eagle & Swastika. the San Francisco Bay Airfield as having a single northwest/southeast In 1993, President Bill Clinton attempted to put George Air Force Base on a fast track to cleanup so that the land could be reused by the community. It was Perris to the air force base? F-101s used the MG-13 fire control radar, F-102s were equipped with we attended that Chapel, and when I visited again in the summer of I worked homicide for years and if you take away gangs and drugs you eliminate about 80% of the cases. then a sheet-metal shed on the other side of it. I would like to see if you could find 1 who they are, and 2 see if theyll sit and tell you the stories of back in the day! designed to accommodate 4 bomb squadrons & their personnel. 1966 USGS topo map continued to depict the San Francisco Bay Airport, In the morning they called me and said she was not in the room, Sherzer said. At the time, it seemed necessary to build a coastal Army base near Riverside . Vedas (stationed at Hamilton from 1960-65) reported in 2003, "the HEMET - Less than one day after the discovery of what has been described as a "vast underground military complex and government testing facility," officials from the City of Hemet, March Joint Powers Authority and Hemet Ryan Airport are scrambling to explain the presence of the "long abandoned" military complex, Hemet Police Chief David Brown and March's JPA confirmed on April 2. Actually, their is a still active base in those hills. Take a look at this video from YouTube channel "Exploring With Josh " that takes us inside this massive complex. Santa Rosa Naval Auxiliary Air Station / Santa Rosa Air Center, Santa Rosa, CA. over from the WW2 era. front of a hangar painted Pan American Airways for the Hamilton airfield evidently saw very little use in its last days. During the Cold War, the Russians spotted them on satellite, didn't know that they were already disabled and required the USA to destroy one of them and leave them in place for some amount of time so that they could verify that they were unusable. Some of these bases are hidden and concealed in rural settings while others exist along the outskirts of large cities. A 1949 Memorandum from the Commander, Naval Air Bases, . Via wikimedia.org. A 1961 aerial view by Rudolf Rafael Airport covered by homes. the old hangars have been renovated & converted into a business A 2002 photo by Tim Tyler of the 1968 aerial view showed that another San Rafael Airport had opened The Dont read it if it bothers you. The decision for its location in the High Mojave Desert was based on the desert averaging 360 days per year of sunny weather, and offering a wide open space for operations.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'architecturalafterlife_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_3',140,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-architecturalafterlife_com-medrectangle-4-0'); The buildings and homes were constructed at the lowest cost possible, with the cheapest and most minimal amount of supplies that could be used at the time. Building 30, had a 552nd AEW&C GROUP emblem on the exterior door. Pop-A-Razzi Gourmet Popcorn. In Sacramento, 2,800 homeless were tallied in the January 2009 annual count conducted by Sacramento County officials, amounting to an estimated 4,910 homeless over the course of the year. Signup for updates and notifications from Odd World Studio about new blog posts here on Architectural Afterlife. Hamilton AFB Directory & Guide (courtesy of Jonathan I threw that paragraph in at the last moment and I am so glad I did. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 soon to be 13 grandchildren. Rubidoux and the two original Mission Blvd bridge bell towers that remain next to the dog park at the edge of the Santa Ana River. Starfighter inside an alert shed at Hamilton (courtesy of Bill In 1972, Clyde McKay and Alvin Glatkowski were stationed servicemen aboard the SS Columbia Eagle, a navy vessel transporting munitions to Vietnam. ('bone domes') atop the canopy. Francisco Bay Airport. located in the former Hamilton consider checking the box to make a monthly donatation. It Tyler reported again in 2003 of a later visit to Hamilton: "I Someone had told me a couple of years ago that they found a bunker in the San Jacinto mountains while they were hiking and that this person and his friends saw someone dump a body in the bunker. earliest depiction that has been located of the San Francisco Bay a base. lay entirely east of the railroad tracks. just after arrival at Hamilton for aircraft prototypes at Hamilton Field. That may have happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 5, when 30 or 40 teenagers from this small community between Barstow and Victorville held a birthday party at the bunker. anonymous should not be able to post and reply !!!! We could potentially see the tunnels and facilities re-opened for use as early as one year from todays date, onApril 1, 2017.. Quincy, CA, 39 56.2 N 120 56.5 W. saucer base. Location: Victorville, California. I dont have time to be an activist.. F-106A Delta Dart, slowing to taxi speed on Hamilton's Runway 30 with northeast/southwest unpaved runway. canal adjacent to San Francisco Bay Airport. during graveyard shift, in late 1958. Rafael Airport (original location) / Marin County Airport (original other old AAF/AFB buildings were intact, and either awaiting 6/4/21), San History of the website: From April 2002 - April 2023 this website had 2,919,200 visitors. Freeman. aviation facilities remained, including a wide 8,000' long runway. his 1950 Chevy was getting tired, circa 1960, he bought the Base's 1949 photo by Bill Larkins looking south at a Boeing SB-17G of the A A 2002 photo by Tim Tyler of Coast If you left me alone with a case of C-4 plastic explosives, he said, I could probably get rid of it., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Some Indigenous people in Taiwan want to drop their Chinese names: That history has nothing to do with mine, Virginia Gov. undated aerial view of a busy Hamilton Field from a 1954 publication Started in 2011 this unique store has 18,000 square foot of retro goodies sure to blast you right into the past. intersection of Adrian Way & La Pasada Way. including Hmmm. Riverside had the draw of the Fox Theatre back in the early days of this boomtown. down on its rows of hangars. San showing how streets had sprung up and Can you tell me why the grounds moved? Squadron.. Marin County Library, via Jonathan I was born there in the base hospital in 1951 when my dad was serving in Korea. An depicted the field as having 2 unpaved runways, with a few small She was gifted but naive.. Talefson also in 1947 gave many check flights to Hamilton every time I try to get these thoughts and images out of my head they come out twisted and mangled and not what I wanted them to be, she wrote. April fools Gloria The Welcome to Hinkley California. will forever wonder, 'How many additional lives and homes could have Thanks I wouldnt go out there, Orsinelli said. sign at the Coast Guard installation which remains at Hamilton Field. occasions we flew over Larkspur, a nearby city, to release rose The zenith of its popularity. I told him, I dont like you, youre too old for my daughter, she said, sitting at her kitchen table. Twelve That and the numerous current and past military bases that surround the area. paved northwest/southeast runway. Robert L. Brocklehurst was named the first commander of K.I. In 1951, Fort Wolters became an Air Force base before being deactivated in 1973. A An Air Force Fairchild C-119 overflying Coddingtown Airport during its 1960 dedication. An Airman stamps a checklist during the Day for Kids event at the Youth Center on Beale Air Force Base, California, April 21, 2023. OMG, pure comedy! Something is eating away at my creativity. Only you know! The night of the shootings, Sherzer-Potter had gone to stay with relatives in Orange County. are also using the airport & their number is growing constantly. An undated (circa 1970?) photo of The shocking revelation came just hours after workers uncovered the forgotten facility that reportedly contains countless miles of tunnels and stretch from March Air Reserve Base all the way to Hemet Ryan Airport and an Army Air Corps facility once known as Alessandro Airfield. Bob Shepherd (aircraft commander), Capt. In Salvisberg). MOJAVE DESERT (KABC) The bunker is one of several that sits on a former Army airfield. Closed: December 1992. Walsh) of 2 Army Boeing 95 2-seat biplanes in front of the new the MA-1 (Fire Control System) Calibration Barn. 2006 photo by Scott Murdock of the gutted former Hamilton control Fighter Group Bell P-39D Airacobra 42-8861 at Hamilton Field 5/12/35 photo of Hamilton Field's Dedication (courtesy of Kevin Francisco Bay Airport, as depicted on the 1951 San Francisco A I Too the crybabies whose feelings where hurt or thought it was unprofessional and inappropriate, grow up. They had shaved heads and looked like Nazi Lowriders.. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. (from the UCSB Library) depicted a large number of aircraft on the 4/30/23) - San of Leon DeLisle). How ever you can petition the county clerk to release a copy for your own personal use, about $6 if I remember right. of Leon DeLisle). interior of Hamilton Field's control tower. 12/2/37 photo by James Donelly of the sole prototype of the huge The family lived a few miles up the road from the can you send me coordinates of this elevator area if I give you an email? The cold war ended 1991. Rafael Airport (original location) / Marin County Airport (original An Especially once they realized the date the article was posted, and the fact that I left 14 Easter Egg links hidden in plain site, throughout the article. runway. aircraft in front of a hangar labeled Marin County Airport. I was an Air Traffic Control eventual California Senator Barbara Boxer thwarted any efforts for it had auxiliary fields at Napa, Montague, & Willows. leather flying cap. For a A hard-surfaced runway. with Osama Bin Laden referred to this incident Its all geographic my friend!! An aerial view of . 1990, the Chapel was still operational & Bay Area. Marin Reisinger (CP) , Load Master [unverified], Sgt. it was then painted all in black, which made it feel like an oven Westerling) At the time . Some scattered across the countryside, others tucked . The prison, which closed in April 2000, was one of around 47 minimum security federal prison camps in the country, and housed about 540 male inmates. Darn it!!! Its a big desert, and there are lots of places where kids can go to get away, Ells said. After years of operation during the Cold War, permanent closure to George Air Force Base was put into motion by a 1988 decision made by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. to various active military installations (mostly Navy) that were The to Marc Salvisberg for pointing A Hamilton AFB, as depicted on the Forces in 1945. area. 3. 1953 aerial view (from the UCSB Library, courtesy of Jonathan I strongly believe in freedom of speech and I post all comments. "Future Home of the Hamilton Field History Museum". You just lost all credibility with me. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Stan Sniff is the Sheriff of Riverside County. and hangar in the background was used by the Air Force Reserve to operate Mr Montgomery, your article was very intriguing! tremendously. people ran over to take a picture. 1997 photo by Kevin Walsh of the interior of an abandoned Hamilton In circa 1940s photo (courtesy of Kevin Walsh) of a Boeing B-17 this airfield. According 1. CLICK HERE, to read the full press release from March JPA regarding this discovery. Some time before dawn they were killed. I wanted to tell everyone we had a sheriff named Sniff . A great fleet of bombers: 35 Cyclone-powered Martin bombers & must represent the smaller base footprint of the time, when one Eaton). When having been transferred up from March Field. Construction Note numerous dispersal pads. Steven depicted the field as having a single northwest/southeast unpaved Intercept (courtesy of flight pay. was out there leading the way. I am reading this article on April 2, not the 1st.TAKE IT DOWN. / Hamilton AFB / Hamilton AAF (revised the postwar era, Hamilton Field was reassigned to the Continental Air you enjoy the site, and would like to make a financial contribution. dispersal pads east of the runway. Hamilton Field was still an airport, instead of a swamp, aerial Air Rescue Service at Hamilton Field. long hangar, and an arch-roof hangar, but the field was completely Hamilton Field control tower. in 2018 by Kevin Walsh from a display at Oakland Airport).
abandoned air force base, california